Aurora question (Denver, Highlands Ranch, Parker: mover, high crime, new home)

[san diego mover]

Does anyone know why there are so many resale homes in SE Aurora compared to the rest of Denver? The homes are beautiful and so is the area but it seems people are trying to leave for some reason. Does the name "Aurora: have a bad rap?? Thanks for any insight you can give me.

[2bindenver]

Aurora is the third largest city in Colorado. Some folks will hear that "Aurora" is a bad place to live and never investigate the area for themselves.

The same thing can be said for any place. Since plenty of people call "Aurora" home...can it really be that bad?

[san diego mover]

Well I have that same situation in San Diego the city name has a bad name so there housing markets suffer because of that. I just notice when I'm looking for houses in CO. there are so many houses on the market in SE Aurora compared to others such as HR and the housing prices are much cheaper in SE Aurora. My understanding is for some reason Aurora is sterotyped as a non desirable place in Co. and just what you said no one ever investigates it for themselves but unfortunately I have the same problem here in San Diego and because of the reputation the housing market suffers.

[tfox]

Originally Posted by san diego mover

Does anyone know why there are so many resale homes in SE Aurora compared to the rest of Denver? The homes are beautiful and so is the area but it seems people are trying to leave for some reason. Does the name "Aurora: have a bad rap?? Thanks for any insight you can give me.

I don't think it has much to do with the bad rap for Aurora. It's more likely because of the eastern location. People move to Colorado to be close to mountains, not to the plains. Aurora is far from the mountains, so it's often overlooked for that reason.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Does anyone know how Southeast Aurora housing price appreciation tends to do compared to other parts of the region like say, Highlands Ranch? Yes, its cheaper to buy, but does it tend to appreciate less or does it suffer more in market downturns?

[RGG13]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

Does anyone know how Southeast Aurora housing price appreciation tends to do compared to other parts of the region like say, Highlands Ranch? Yes, its cheaper to buy, but does it tend to appreciate less or does it suffer more in market downturns?

Compare the cost per sq ft vs Centennial or Parker or other communities in the area OVER TIME. Some of the neighborhoods in SE Aurora haven't been around long enough to have been through the last downturn. Especially the ones east of 470.

[NU97]

I currently live in SE Aurora. I agree, there are a lot of re-sale homes in the area. We're actually planning on listing soon -- and not because we want to move, but because our son has been diagnosed with a medical condition that will worsen with exposure to UV rays. Colorado is not the place to be if you're trying to escape UV rays. It's ironic -- we moved here largely because we enjoy the sunny climate, yet that's the reason we're needing to move. Any how, we are very nervous that we won't be able to sell our home. Several neighbors are also selling -- here are some of their reasons: new job location, death of a spouse, building a bigger home in a nearby subdivision, wanting a bigger lot, and a few are discovering they can't really afford to live here. I don't think these reasons are out of the ordinary. . . are they?

[strooberri]

Originally Posted by 2bindenver

Aurora is the third largest city in Colorado. Some folks will hear that "Aurora" is a bad place to live and never investigate the area for themselves.

The same thing can be said for any place. Since plenty of people call "Aurora" home...can it really be that bad?

Actually parts of Aurora are that bad, stay away from 6th and Colfax.
The area is very gangy and infested with bad stuff.
The new homes are being built on the other side of the freeway from this, I have a friend who lives there and likes it.
We lived at one point up towards Buckingham Square and HATED it.

The complex we were in was full of dry rot, we were waiting for our neighbor to come crashing through the ceiling.
This was not a cheap complex either.
8 different cars were broken into 14 were vandalized and ours was stolen, when we got it back it was driven over 3500 miles.
When we got the call from the officer to come pick it up, we arrived and he said he saw them but he didn't bother chasing them because it was 3 illegals and no one would do anything anyways.
I was furious. Where was our car? It was down by colfax and 6th of course.
Everything inside including my childrens stuff was stolen and the car was trashed.

The area is infested with spiders, now being from NYC and So Cal I can handle rats, earthquakes and bats.. but spiders.. I scream like a girl and run the other way and my wife constantly had to come into the room to kill it with a hammer.
Spiders were coming through the plumbing which i've heard is a big problem throughout co. so they would drop on your head from the shower or come flying out of the bathtub spout.

Traffic was horrible at certain times.
We found ppl very rude which is funny since yes we are from NYC.

I do wish we could have afforded downtown denver it was much more our style vs. aurora.

There was at one time a big problem with the developments, the foundation was buckling in from under the homes, not sure if that is still true to case.
But they build homes durring un desireable weather where other states wouldn't.

There are some good areas of Aurora i'm sure, I just haven't experienced them.
Hope that helps.

[Kyusa]

there is a good reason why Aurora has so many resale homes. first, its the most undesirable area of denver. second, its 3/4 ghetto, high crime, high taxes, its an arm pit. i lived there for 8 years and i sold my home at 19% loss! but i had to get out of there, so it was worth the loss

[gpraceman]

Originally Posted by Kyusa

its 3/4 ghetto, high crime, high taxes, its an arm pit.

Nothing like some good old exaggeration to make a point I grew up around Aurora and there are good and definitely bad parts of the city.

Aurora does suffer from a stigma due to the bad areas and the crime associated with it. You see that expressed a lot on this forum. I do believe that stigma does affect property values even in the good parts of the city. That is one of the reasons we did not to buy a house there. Another is that I'd rather be closer to the mountains.